


A^ 



^ 



'^'■" 



SNNUSL SDDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT, 
Mr. EDGAR RICHARDS, 



DKIvIVKRED BEJ'ORE the; 



CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON, 



January 23, 1890. 



SOME FOOD SUBSTITUTES ATS^D ADULTEMNTS. 



Reprinted from 
Bulletin No. 5, Chemical Society of Washington. 



1890. 



4GRESS 



-<. 






ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT, 

Mr. EDGAR RICHARDS. 



Delivered January 23, 1890. 



SOME FOOD SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : Li his address 
before this Society last year our late President, Dr. J. H. 
Kidder, presented the subject of AIR as one of the " two 
necessities of life which," he said, "are absolute" and "which 
we cannot live without," namely : " food (including water) 
and air." It is more especially to a certain class of foods, 
whose increasing consumption and sale has of late years 
attracted public notice, that I wish to call your attention 
this evening, namely that of cheap and wholesome food 
substitutes ; which are also frequently used as food adulterants. 

Our bodies are like a farnace and require fueland air to 
sustain the heat of combustion, by the constant renewal of 
fresh material and the elimination of the waste products. 
The form, whether solid or licjuid, of animal or vegetable 
origin, in which we suj^ply this fuel depends largely on local 
circumstances, climate, education, etc., and as long as the 
food employed goes to furnish the proper amount of fuel 
material for the maintenance of the body temperature, life 
is sustained. 

The extent of the consumption of any new food will evi- 
dently depend on how it fulfills this requirement as a fuel, 
and by its pleasing a.ppearance, its palatability, its capacity 
to appease hunger, its wholesomeness, and its relative cheap- 
ness attracts public attention. If the new food is a manu- 
factured product its cheapness will depend upon the possi- 



BULLETIN OF THE 



bility of its production on a large scale from relatively cheap 
materials. 

From want of reliable information in regard to the ma- 

CD 

terials employed in most new food i»roducts there is a general 
feeling of uncertainty and insecurity on the subject. People 
as a rule imagine tliat any substance used as an adulterant 
of, or a substitute for, a food product is to be avoided as it- 
self being injurious to health, and when they hear that a 
certain food is adulterated, or is -a food substitute, there is im- 
mediately a prejudice excited against the article which it 
takes time and familiarity to allay. A moment's reflection 
ouglit to show that it ^vould l^e directly contrary to the food 
manufacturer's interest to add to, or substitute anything for, 
a food product which would cause injurious symptoms, as 
in that case his means of gain would be cut off by the refusal 
of consumers to buy liis product. It is true that the un- 
scrupulous manufacturer or dealer does not hesitate to cheat 
his customer in the interest of his own pecuniary profit and 
gain, but he does not want io poison him. Where through 
carelessness or ignorance injurious substances, such as the 
arsenic, copper, aniline, and otlier metallic and organic 
poisonous salts sometimes used for artificial colours, are 
added to foods their presence is promptly revealed by the 
dangerous symptoms which they call forth in the consumer. 
About a year ago the case of the Philadelphia bakers, who 
added chromate of lead to colour some of their cakes and 
thus caused the death of several persons and serious illness 
in nearly everyone who ate any of these products, will be 
recalled by many present. 

The great majority of substances used for food adulterants 
or substitutes consist of cheap and harmless substances 
wliich aye not injurious to hea'lth, as the following list of 
those most commonly met with in the principal food products 
will show. This list has been compiled from the Reports of 
the State Boards of Health, the returns of the British Inland 
Revenue Department, the Reports of the British Local Gov- 
ernment Board, and tliose of the Paris Municipal Laboratorv. 



CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 



Table I. 

Food Products and their Chief Adulterants. 



FOOD PRODUCT. 


ADULTERANTS. 


Milk- 


Water, i-emoval of cream, addition of oleo oil or 




lard to skimmed milk. 


Butter. .. _- 


Water, salt, foreign fats, artificial colouring mat- 




ter. 


Cheese . 


Lard, oleo oil, cottonseed oil. 


Olive Oil* 


Cottonseed and other vegetable oils.- 


Beer 


Artificial glucose, malt and hop substitutes, sod- 
ium bi-carbonate, salt, antiseptics. 




Svrup _ _ 


Artificial glucose. 


Honey 


Artificial glucose, cane-sugar. 


Confectionery 


Artificial glucose, starch, artificial essences, pois- 
onous pigments, terra alba, gypsum. 


Wines, Liquors 


Water, spirits, artificial colouring matter, fictitious 
imitations, aromatic ethers, burnt sugar, anti- 
septics. 


Vinegar 


Water, other mineral or organic acid. 


Flour, Bread 


Other meals, alum. 


Baker's Chemicals* 


Starch, alum. 


Spices* 


Flour, starches of various kinds, turmeric. 


Cocoa and Chocolate 


Sugar, starch, flour. 


Coffee* 


Chicory, peas, beans, rye, corn, wheat, colouring 
matter. 




Tea - - 


Fxhausted tea leaves, foreign leaves, tannin, in- 




digo, Prussian blue, turmeric, gypsum, soap- 
stone, sand. 


Canned Goods*.. 


Metallic poisons. *" 


Pickels 


Salts of copper. 



* For list of adulterated brands see Report of tlie Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 
1889, p. 181-1. 



BULLETIN OF THE 
WATER. 



Ovdimvy potahk , vale,- h not generally considered either 
externally or nrternally "i„juriou.s to health," yet it i. prob 
abb- the most common adulterant used. We find i , ee 
nr the Canadian " Adulteration Act " tln,t: " If t « ' ' 

ax ulterated m a manner injurious to healtii " (Section 15 
a ;:.::, ,::f f ""' '' "'-■^"^•■^^'-^ recogni.ed as not onli 
crime Tb ■ t ?.' f^f '"'■^''«™««""-. if »ot actually i 
cnnu. Ibis IS the food on wbieb the wliole population 
ndc. one year old is fed ; and where the n.other canno" 
I pp y the proi,er nourislnnent for the child she must depend 
01 ts lirmgnig up on cow's or other milk. It is .self evident 
that a pnit of watered milk does not contain the same 
amount o initrition as the same volume of wliole 11'^ 
that a child or invalid might be actually starved to death 
^f compelled to rely on the former for its" sole sustenance 

leii Healtli Departments to supervise and as far as possi- 
ble siipj,re.ss tlieir sale. ' 

The .skill of the milk adulterator has kept pace with the 
n aich of improvement and to-day we find centrifugal ma- 
chines costing over $200, placed on the market lesig^^d 
1 u -'il T« T*""' ''■"'" *'™™^'' ""'k -'d oleo oiland 
of animal fat added, wlueli, it is stated, can be used for all 
purposes in which the genuine article is employed. A d 

vo '44 l^-'"V'i""'i"" "■" ''^ f°""" '- Engineering, 
^ol. 44, ISh,, p. 4,8, and m the catalogues of the dealers. 

OLEOMARGARINE. 

Within the past few years two artificial food productsina,lo 
Ivom what had hitiiertofore been considered wa.ste pro t 
of the arge slaughter houses have come promin it ! fo e 

'efiaed or compound lard" are now found on sale in 



CHEMICAL SOCIETY. O 

most cities of this country and Europe. Against the former 
there has been a large amount of legislation directed with 
a view of controlling its production and sale, and with the 
unexpected result of increasing both. 

Whatever may have been the production of oleomargarine 
in this country before the National law went into effect we 
have no reliable statistics, but since the 1st of November, 
1886, we have the monthly statements of the manufacturers, 
duly attested under oath, of the quantity of oleomargarine 
made and removed from the factories, tax paid for domestic 
consumption or in bond for export, each day of the month. 
These statements also give the quantity and kind of mater- 
ials employed in the manufacture, and the names and ad- 
dresses of the parties to w^hom the oleomargarine is sold or 
consigned. 

The following table shows the monthly quantity of oleo- 
margarine produced in this country since Nov. 1, 1886, to 

Nov. 1, 1889 : 

Table II. 

Showing the quantity of OleomcWgarine produced, witlidrown tax paid, for 
export, and Lost or destroyed in mamofactorles, monthly, from November 1, 
1886, to November I, 1889. 



Month. 



On hand Nov. 1, 1 

November 

December 

1887. 

January 

February 

March* 

April 

May -_- 

June 

Julyt 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December 



Quantity 
produced. 



Pounds. 

181,090 
3,188,261 
3,073,263 



2,804,096 
2,779,855 
3,568,254 
2,839.358 
1,885,027 
1,375,423 
1,208,638 
2,425,226 
2,703,256 
3,082,935 
3,003,715 
3,256,028 



Withdrawn 


Lost or 


tax paid. 


destroyed. 


Pounds. 


Pounds. 


2,986,241 


10,878 


2,956,827 


296 


2,720,235 


3,056 


2,716,759 


9,182 


3,512,138 


12,472 


2,780,307 


6,866 


1,769,954 


2,210 


1.301,108 


6,267 


1,170,136 


1,191 


2,296,238 


601 


2,568,007 


■ 262 


2,915,036 


1,979 


2,862,321 




3,120,393 









With- 
drawn for 
export. 



Pounds. 

6,747 
07,189 



144,535 
60,500 
96,499 

149,838 

136,523 
62,701 
33,240 

110,990 
68.917 
92,201 

148,899 
78,500 



* Highest for the year. 



t Lowest for the year. 



BULLETIN OF THE 
Table II — Coiitiinied. 



Month. 



January 

February 

March*- 

April 

May 

June 

Julyf 

August 

September 

October . 

November 

December* ._ 

1889. 

January ; 

February 

March 

April 

May-.-. 

Junef .__ 

July 

August 

September 

October 

On hand Oct. 31- 

Total for 3 years. 

Total first year.. 

Total second j'ear 

Total third year. 



Quantity 
produced. 



Puunds. 

3,058,955 
3,057,149 
3,940,727 
3,273,453 
3,185,127 
2,130,318 
2,084,317 
2,301,769 
2,776,465 
3,462,123 
3,734,878 
4,181,317 



3,607,753 
3,523,381 
3,047,875 
3,057,841 
2,310,945 
1,575,362 
1,770,146 
1,975,773 
2,274,456 
4,072.333 
429,219 

101,786,888 



31,114,682 



85,530,146 



35,132,060 



Withdrawn 
tax paid. 



Pounds. 

2,918,868 

3,003,515 

3.824,672 

3,062,396 

2,817,292 

1,930,311 

1,925,762 

2,209,782 

2,611,693 

3,368,418 

3,509,408 

4,025,336 



3,353,350 
3,266,245 
3,077,831 
2,886,481 
2,114,678 
1,514,658 
1,442,094 
1,914,016 
2,130,648 
3,668,057 



96,251,191 



29,692,966 



33,655,423 



32,902,802 



Lost or 
destroyed. 



2,998 
1,537 



995 
185 

727 



10 



1,000 



70 



4,973 
' 688' 



68,443 



55,260 



6,442 



0,741 



With- 
drawn for 
export. 



Pounds. 
117,781 
126,168 
155,761 
251,994 
327,726 
174,021 
155,200 
153,285 
167,787 
80,785 
175,965 
109,385 



137,123 

228,191 

70,424 

285,948 

126,223 

58,579 

95,580 

49,222 

167,826 

190,385 



4,662,638 



1,029,880 



1,937,907 



1,694,851 



Highest for the year. 



f Lowest for the year. 



During this period the number of factories has decreased 
from 37 to 21, notwithstanding which fact the production 
and sale has increased steadily. It is produced by expensiye 
machinery in the large factories in such quantities that it 
can be sold nearly the whole 3"ear round at a less price than 
butter, although the high rate of tax paid by both the 
manufacturers and dealers, which is, of course, ultimately 
paid by the consumer, necessarily increases the market price. 



CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 7 

In the spring and early summer months the price of dairy- 
butter is generally cheaper than oleomargarine and conse- 
quently less of the latter is made and sold during that time. 
In July the production of oleomargarine reaches its lowest 
limits for the year, and obtains its highest in March. 

The system followed by the Internal Revenue Bureau is 
such that each manufacturer's package can be traced from 
the time it leaves the factory till it reaches the hands of the 
retailer or consumer, or leaves the country. 

The high rate of tax demanded from the manufacturers 
and dealers was undoubtedly intended to be nearly or quite 
prohibitory ; when compared to those paid by other special 
tax payers, rectifiers, brewers, etc., as shown in the following 
table, the amounts are from 3 to 10 times as high : 



Table III. 
Rate of special taxes, per annum. 





OLEOMAR- 
GARINE. 


LIQUORS. 


TOBACCO 




Distilled. 


Malt. 


TURED. 


Manufacturer , 

Wholesale dealer 

Eetail dealer 


$600 00 

480 00 

48 00 


$200 00* 

100 00 

25 00 


^100 OOf 
50 00 
20 00 


$6 00 

30 00+ 

2 40 



* Rectifier of 500 barrels, or more, per annum. 
t Annual manufacture 500 barrels or more. 
X Peddler of tobacco, first class. 

It is undoubtedly a fact that if the retailer's tax was as 
low as that for tobacco the manufacturers of oleomarg^arine 
would pay the same to have at least one dealer to handle 
their goods in every village and town in this country. As 
it is, in the Chicago district, where there are seven factories, 
there were 974 retail dealers doing business in April, 1889, 
compared with 726 the April previous ; in the Boston dis- 
trict, with its one factory, there were 460 retailers in April 
last year, and 405 at the corresponding time in 1888 ; in the 
Connecticut district, with four factories, there were 424 in 
1889 and 384 the year previous, and in Michigan, wdth no 



8 BULLETIN OF THE 

factory, there were 200 and 2G7 respectively for the same 
periods. These four collection districts contain over one-half 
of tlie total number of retail dealers doing business at the 
close of the last special tax year (April 30, 1889). This 
would seem to indicate that where the pul3lic lias been 
brought in unprejudiced contact with oleomargarine, as sold 
on its own merits, they have found it palatable and suitable 
to their wants. 

I have been in retail stores in the lumber and mining 
regions of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, in Boston, 
Chicago, and elsewhere, where as much as one-half to one 
ton of oleomargarine is sold per week, in quantities of less 
than 10 lbs. to any one purchaser at one time, put up in 
j)ackages duly branded with the word " Oleomargarine,'^ as 
required by the law and regulations. It may interest you 
to know that there was consigned to retail dealers and pre- 
sumably sold in Washington, between January 1, 1889, and 
December 1, 1889, 130,581: lbs. of oleomargarine, as shown 
in the following table : 

Table IV. 

Showing mo7itJdy shipments of Oleomargarine from five manu- 
facturers direct to retail dealers in Washington, D. C, from 
January 1, 1889, to December 1, 1889. 

Month. Lbs. Oleomargarine. 

January 10,270 

February 28,223 

March 6,227 

April 8,108 

May 12,372 

June 6,808 

July 6,826 

August 8,466 

September 18,872 

October 12,844 

November 16,568 

Total 130,584 



CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 9 

The ingredients which enter into tlie manufacture of oleo- 
margarine are : 1, " Neutral " or leaf lard, used in the pro- 
portion of from 25 to 60 per cent., made from the leaf fat of 
freshly-slaughtered hogs ; 2, " Oleo oil," used in the propor- 
tion of from 20 to 50 per cent., made from the caul and suet 
fats of freshly-slaughtered beeves ; 3, some liquid vegetable 
oil, as cottonseed, sesame, peanut, used in the proportion of 
from 5 to 25 per cent., made by crushing the seeds and ex- 
tracting the oil by pressure or solvents ; 4, milk or cream, 
used in the proportion of from 10 to 20 per cent. ; 5, butter, 
used in the proportion of from 2 to 10 per cent., generally 
bought from the best creameries for its fine flavour ; 6, salt, 
and 7, annatto or other colouring matter. Some factories 
employ no vegetable oils in their oleomargarine, preferring 
to use a larger proportion of " neutral " lard with a small 
amount of butter to obtain the desired butter consistency. 
In the higher grade of " creamery butterine" the proportions 
of oleo oil are reduced, the vegetable oils are discarded, and 
butter is used to make up the charge for the churn. 

The method of manufacture closely resembles that used in 
ordinary butter making, except that the churn is steam 
jacketted and the animal fats used are previously melted 
before being placed in it. From a personal inspection of 
some of the largest factories I am convinced that the greatest 
cleanliness is observed throughout all the operations ; that 
nothing but the freshest animal fats are used ; that machinery 
is employed as much as possible and large quantities worked 
at a time to reduce the expense. The factories are as well 
arranged as the best creameries, and it is to the manufac- 
turer's interest to produce a palatable and wholesome pro- 
duct, which is, however, not intended to compete with " gilt- 
edge " butter. 

OLEO OIL. 

Owing to the construction of the Attorney General of 
section 2 of the oleomargarine law the Internal Revenue 
officers exercise no control over the production and sale of 
2 



10 BULLETIN OF THE 

oleo oil, although the Commissioner has recommended that 
Congress amend the hiAV in that regard. From inquiries that 
were made, over a year ago, by the collectors of Internal 
Revenue there was found to have been produced during the 
year ended June 30, 1888, 69,623,795 lbs. of oleo oil in nine 
States. There was used in the manufacture of oleomargarine, 
as stated in the manufacturers' returns, 12,265,800 lbs. during 
that period, and 30,146,595 lbs. were ex^iorted, leaving 
27,211,400 lbs. used otherwise. As oleo oil is sold at a much 
higher rate than tallow it is presumable that this large 
quantity is used in some other food products, as emulsified 
cream and cheeses. 

There is a special provision in the law in regard to the use 
of any unwholesome material or product in the manufacture 
of oleomargarine, but no sample has ever been submitted to 
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue under it. From the 
testimony and investigations of the most prominent chemists, 
both here and in Europe, there is a consensus of opinion 
tliat oleomargarine Avhen made from fresh fats and in a 
cleanly manner is a perfectly Avholesome article of food. 

COMPOUND LARD. 

In the manufacture of oleo oil there is left behind on the 
filter presses a hard white or slightly yellow fat, the Ijeef or 
oleo stearine. This for many years was sold to the candle 
and soap makers, but is now used in the extensive manufac- 
ture of "refined" or "compound lard," by being melted and 
mixed with some cottonseed oil and a little leaf lard until 
tlie mixture has attained the desired consistency.* 

From the testimony given before the Congressional Lard 
Committee, " Prime steam lard " is about as disgusting a 
mixture as can be imagined. The entrails and other viscera, 
head, feet, in fact every part of the animal which contains 
the faintest traces of fat, are dumped into the rendering tanks 
and live steam turned on until all the fat is thoroughly 

* My thanks are due to Messrs. Fairbank & Co., of Chicago, for a set of 
samples illustrating the manufacture of compound lard. 



CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 11 

melted out. The liquid is then allowed to cool, the water 
containing a highly savoured mass of impurities is run off, 
and the remaining fat is tierced or canned. If it smells too 
" loud " it is washed with hot water, allowed to cool, and then 
repacked. 

The oleo stearine and cottonseed oil mixture is prepared 
from clean and wholesome materials and does not suggest 
any such filthy practices as "prime steam lard." The manu- 
facturers are generally abandoning the designation of " re- 
fined " and are now calling such mixtures "compound 
lards." 

COTTONSEED OIL. , 

The enormous and constantly increasing production of 
cottonseed oil in this country is noteworthy as showing to 
what an extent it has come to be employed as an article of 
food both here and abroad. The principal domestic con- 
sumption of the oil is in the manufacture of " compound 
lard." It is also used as a substitute for, and an adulterant 
of, olive oil for cooking and table use, and in medicinal 
preparations. It is employed instead of the more expensive 
animal and vegetable oils in the mining regions for the 
miners' lamps. There are 125 mills in operation, with a 
capital, invested in the South, estimated at $25,000,000 ; 
twelve thousand hands, receiving $24,000, are employed per 
day. The amount of seed crushed last season was 875,000 
tons ; yielding on an average 37|- gallons of crude oil per 
ton.* 

SOME QUEER PREJUDICES. 

A large proportion of the articles suitable for food and 
produced in all countries is wasted annually because of 
people's prejudice against them. The old saws : " what is 
one man's meat is another man's poison", and " there is no 
accounting for taste," are trite but w^arranted by the facts. 

We do not object to eating a live oyster but prefer all our 
other meats dead and nndevgoing putrefaction to a slight ex- 

* This information was kindly furnished me by Mr. A. D. Fulton, Editor 
of the " Oil, Paint, and Drug Reporter," in a letter dated Dec. 28, 1889. 



12 BULLETIN OF THE 

tent in order to rid of the " touglmess," as it is generally 
called, })roduced by the rigor mortis. Some people like to 
let the putrefaction proceed further until the meat is "gamey." 
The Texan cowboy eats goat's meat in preference to that of 
the cattle and sheep he is herding. Young puppies, rats, 
and bird's nests are considered delicacies by the Chinese. 
Frog's legs and snails are among the highest i:)riced dishes 
served at Delmonico's. Except the bones and hide every 
part of an animal slaughtered for food is eaten by most civi- 
lized nations ; the brain ; tongue ; blood in the shape of 
black }iudding and sausages; the liver; heart; lungs; 
stomach as tripe ; the pancreas, thyroid and sublingual 
glands are called sweetbreads and considered a great deli- 
cacy ; the feet in the way of jellies and pickled ; the intes- 
tines as sausage covering, etc., etc. In the markets of Paris 
there is a steady demand for horseflesh as food. The Arabs 
and other nomadic tribes prefer mare's or camel's to cow's 
milk. ]\Iany j)eople would as soon eat a snake as an eel, 
yet the latter commands a higher price than most fish in 
many parts of the world. Lobsters, who are the scavengers 
of the sea, are eaten by people who would not touch pork. 
The Esquimaux, who eats blubber and other solid fats, and 
the native of the tropics, who " butters " his bread with a 
liquid vegetable oil, have the same object in view, viz : to 
supply a concentrated form of fuel. The squirrel is con- 
sidered a great delicacy in many parts of this country l)ut 
is not eaten in England. The vain efforts of Prof. Riley 
some years ago to induce the starving people of Kansas to 
eat the food they had at their doors ; grasshoppers, sorghum 
and millet seeds, and scjuirrels, himself setting them the 
example, will be recalled by many present. 

COOKING. 

From experiments made by Jensen, in the laboratory of 
the University of Tubingen, it appears that raw meat is much 
sooner digested than cooked meat. Cooking, as far as 
animal food is concerned, has the effect of making it more 



CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 13 

pleasing to the taste, but is unnecessary ; whereas, with cer- 
tain vegetables, especially those composed principally of 
starch, as grain and potatoes, it is required to fit them for 
use. The proper preparation of food is one that has not re- 
ceived the attention it demands. A badly cooked meal is 
more apt to disorganize the system than to prove nutrituous 
and beneficial. The general teaching of cookery in our 
schools, both public and private, to girls would undoubtedly 
result in much improvement in this regard. 

GLUCOSE. 

In April, 1882, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue 
address a letter to the President of the National Academy of 
Sciences, requesting " the appointment of a committee of the 
Academy to examine as to the composition, nature, and 
properties of the article commonly known as ' glucose ' or 
' grape-sugar.' ' In the Report on this subject, made in Janu- 
ary, 1884, the committee, consisting of Professors Barker, 
Brewer, Gibbs, Chandler, and Remsen, from the results they 
had obtained, summed up briefly as follows : 

" 1st. Starch-sugar as found in commerce is a mixture, in 
varying proportions, of two sugars, called dextrose and mal- 
tose, and of dextrine, or starch-gum. Dextrose was discovered 
in grapes by Lowitz, in 1792, and was first prepared from 
starch by Kirchhoff, in 1811. In 1819, Braconnot prej)ared 
it from woody fibre. Maltose was first recognized as a dis- 
tinct sugar by Dubrunfaut, in 1847, in the product of the 
action of malt on starch. No dextrose is thus produced, 
according to O'Sullivan." 

" 2nd. The process of making starch-sugar consists, first, 
in separating the starch from the corn by soaking, grinding, 
straining, and settling ; and second, in converting the starch 
into sugar by the action of dilute suljDhuric acid, this acid 
being subsequently removed by the action of chalk. To 
make the solid, ' grape-sugar,' the conversion is carried further 
than to make the liquid, ' glucose.' After clarifying, the 
liquid is concentrated in vacuum-pans and is decolorized 
with bone-black." 

'' 3rd. The starch-sugar industry in the United States 



14 BULLETIN OF THE 

gives employment to twenty-nine factories, having an esti- 
mated capital of five millions of dollars, consuming about 
forty thousand bushels of corn per day, and producing grape- 
sugar and glucose of the annual value of nearly ten millions 
of dollars. In Germany, in 1881-'S2, there were thirty-nine 
factories of this sort, consuming over seventy thousand tons 
of starch, and producing about forty thousand tons of starch- 
sugar." 

Since this Report of the National Academy was printed, 
the number of starch-sugar factories in the United States has 
decreased to twelve, with a capital invested estimated at from 
twelve to fifteen million dollars, consuming about fifty thou- 
sand bushels of corn per day and having an annual produc- 
tion of 450,000,000 lbs., valued at ten million five hundred 
thousand dollars.* 

"4th. Starch-sugar is chiefly used in making table-sirup, 
in brewing beer as a substitute for malt, and in adulterating 
cane-sugar. It is also used to replace cane-sugar in confec- 
tionery, in canning fruits, in making fruit-jellies, and in 
cooking. Artificial honey is made with it ; and so, also, is 
vinegar." 

" 5th. Starch-sugar represents one distinct class of sugars, 
as cane-sugar does the other; the former being obtained 
naturally from the grape, as the latter is from the cane and 
the beet. Starch-sugar, which is a term chemically synony- 
mous with dextrose and glucose, when pure, has about two- 
thirds the sweetening power of cane-sugar. By the action 
of the dilute acids, both cane-sugar and starch yield dextrose. 
In the case of starch, however, dextrose constitutes the sole 
final product." 

" 0th. The commercial samples of starch-sugar obtained 
by the committee showed a fairly uniform composition on 
analysis. The liquid form, or ' glucose,' contains from 34.3 
to 42.8 j)er cent, of dextrose ; from to 19.3 per cent, of mal- 
tose ; from 29.8 to 45.3 per cent, of dextrine, and from 14.2 
to 22.6 per cent, of water. The solid form, ' grape-sugar,' 
gave from 72 to 73.4 per cent, of dextrose ; from to 3.0 per 
cent, of maltose ; from 4.2 to 9.1 per cent, of dextrine, and 
from 14 to 17.6 per cent, of water. Three specimens of 

*This information was kindly furnished me by the American Glucose 
Co., of J3ut!alo, N. Y., in a recent letter, December, 1889, who also sent 
samples of liquid and solid glucose. 



CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 15 

especially prepared ' grape-sugar ' contained 87.1, 93.2, and 
99.4 per cent, of dextrose, respectively. The last of these 
was crystalline anhydrous dextrose." 

" 7th. Of mineral or inorganic constituents, the samples 
of starch-sugar examined contained only minute quantities. 
The total ash formed in the ' glucose ' was only from 0.325 
to 1.060 per cent., and in the 'grape-sugars', only from 0.335 
to 0.750 per cent. No impurities, either organic or inorganic 
in character, other than those mentioned, were detected in 
any of the samples examined." 

" 8th. The elaborate experiments upon the fermentation 
of starch-sugar would seem to be final on the question of 
the healthfulness, not only of glucose itself, but also of the 
substances j)roduced by the action of a ferment upon it. 
Large quantities of a concentrated extract from the fermen- 
tation, representing from one-third to one-half a pound of 
starch-sugar, were taken internally by the experimenter, 
and this repeatedly, without the slighest observable effect. 
This result, rigidly applied, holds of course only for those 
sugars which, like this, are made from the starch of Indian 
corn, or maize." 

From the foregoing facts the Committee reached the fol- 
lowing conclusions : " First, that the manufacture of sugar 
from starch is a long established industry, scientifically 
valuable and commercially important ; second, that the 
processes which it employs at the present time are unobjec- 
tionable in their character, and leave the product uncon- 
taminated ; third, that the starch-sugar thus made and sent 
into commerce is of exceptional purity and uniformity of 
comjDosition, and contains no injurious substances ; and 
fourth, that though having at best only about two-thirds the 
sweetening power of cane-sugar, yet starch-sugar is in no 
way inferior to cane-sugar in healthfulness, there being no 
evidence before the Committee that maize-starch sugar, either 
in its normal condition or fermented, has any deleterious 
effect upon the system, even when taken in large quan- 
tities."* 

* " Eeport on Glucose, prepared by the National Academy of Sciences, 
in response to a request made by the Commissioner of Internal Kevenue, 
Washington, 1884." 



16 BULLETIN OF THE 

SOME OTHER ADULTERANTS. 

The use of flours and starches of various kinds — wiieat, 
corn, rye, peas, Ijeans, etc. — as food adulterants cannot be 
considered injurious to health, however much the public 
may be cheated in the purchase of such adulterated articles 
of food, as ground spices, coffee, etc., they are not poisoned 
by their consumption. It is a question how much a pur- 
chaser is himself to blame, in his endeavor to secure a " bar- 
gain," when he demands a quantity of any given material 
at less than it can be purchased at wholesale in tlie market, 
that he compels the unscrujiulous manufacturer to make a 
comj)ound which has never more and generally less than 
the proportion of the genuine material represented by the 
price asked. 

Many articles of food spoil in transportation, and under 
the plea of preventing further fermentation resort is had to 
antiseptics, such as salicylic acid, sulphite of soda, borax, etc. 
These deserve mention as being additions to foods of a class 
of substances used to cloak carelessness in manufacture and 
otherwise, and producing in many cases deleterious effects 
on the human economy. In France and Germany the use 
of such antiseptics as salicylic acid in food products is pro- 
hibited, although in the latter country such addition is tol- 
erated when the food product is exported to countries where 
such use is not forbidden. 

LEGISLATION ON FOOD ADULTERATION. 

The adulteration of food, generally l)eing aimed at the 
pocket and not at the liealth of the consumer, ought to be 
easily remedied, one would suppose, by legislation. On, 
however, turning to our different State laws on the subject, 
I am sorry to say that most of them are drawn up in a fol- 
low-the-leader style, under the popular but erroneous im- 
pression that any substance used as an adulterant of or a 
substitute for a food product is necessarily injurious to 
health, witli tlie consequence that these laws are, with very 



CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 17 

few exceptions, merely dead letters.* New York and Massa- 
chusetts have laws nearly identical in wording and whose 
enforcement is entrusted to their respective Boards of Health. 
In the former State the law has proved a failure, because in 
an action brought to obtain " an injunction against the sale 
of certain Ping Suey teas it was held by the court, in refus- 
ing to grant the same, that, although the teas in question 
had been clearly shown to be adulterated with gypsum, 
Prussian blue, sand, etc., it was likewise necessary to prove 
that the effect of these admixtures was such as to constitute 
a serious danger to public health." f In Massachusetts, how- 
ever, the law has been enforced with vigor by the State 
Board of Health, and the yearly reports show a diminution 
in the percentage of adulteration of the samples submitted 
to analysis. 

In this country the British " Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 
1875," with all its imperfections, has served as a model for 
our legislation, and until we have a general law on the sub- 
ject drawn up with clear definitions of adulteration and ad- 
equate means for the enforcement, by the co-operation of State 
and National authorities, of its provisions in regard to this 
class of fraud, the food sophisticator will pursue the even 
tenor of his way undisturbed. The European Continental 
legislation on this subject is much superior to the English 
act.J Under Continental statutes every dealer is held re- 
sponsible for the quality of his merchandise, whether of for- 
eign or domestic origin, and every food material must be 
sold under its true name; artificial products imitating a 
natural product must be properly labeled in a conspicuous 
and legible manner; all unwholesome foods are confiscated 
and destroyed without compensation to the owner ; and 
adulterations generally are considered acts of fraud. Suitable 

* For list of State laws on food adulteration see Keport of the Commis- 
sioner of Internal Kevenue, 1888, p. CCIX. 

t Battershall: Food Adulteration and its Detection, p. 8. New York, 1887. 

j For copies of European laws on food adulteration see Keports of the 
Commissioner of Internal Kevenue for 1888 and 1889 ; and for a summary 
of their leading features see Science, 1889, vol. 14, p. 308. 



18 BULLETIN OF THE CHEMICAL f^OCIETY. 

police supervision and control are })rovide(l for the enforce- 
ment of these statutes, and although these laws are some- 
what of a paternal nature they are much more effective than 
any we have. 

The average American repudiates the idea of a paternal 
government supervision over his affairs or anything tainted 
with the idea. He realizes that he is a full-grown man and 
a sovereign, and that, therefore, he is perfectly competent to 
take care of himself and no cheat or swindler can ever get 
the better of him. He may be willing to support, even to 
clamor for, a legislative measure to regulate the production 
or sale of a food product provided it advances his particular 
business interests. He would, liowever, regard with apathy 
any general law that would guarantee to the public the lil)- 
erty of purcliasing pure food, with a reasonable certaint}^ 
that they were not imposed upon in their purchases, if it was 
incumbent on him to take the necessary steps to execute its 
provisions by bringing samples for anal3^sis, etc. 

It may be, however, that some day he will reach the con- 
clusion that his individual smartness, great as it ma}^ be, is 
not sufficient to wage successful warfare against the food 
sophisticator's combinations, which have made this country 
for years the choice dumping-ground of the frauds of Europe, 
Asia, and Africa. When this happens we may hope that the 
proper laws will be passed to suppress the fraud, and that 
we, the chemists of the country, will liave opened to us a 
new field of usefulness; a field in which we ought to j^ut 
forth our best efforts, with the constant aim to maintain 
the purity and wholesomeness of the food for suffering 
humanity. 



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